If you're old enough to remember Dutch Elm Disease - when the U.S. (and northland) population of Elm trees diminished in the matter of a few years - then this news will trigger flashbacks. Officials with the City of Superior have discovered the presence of the Emerald Ash Borer within city limits. Now, plans are being devised to battle this destructive bug.

The infected tree was discovered in the North End of Superior, and city officials quickly went to work identifying the infestation.

“We actually found a dead specimen in the first tree, and we called the hotline,” said Mary Morgan, parks and recreation administrator and city forester. “They said ‘send us a series of high-resolution photos of the symptoms you’re seeing.’”

Morgan said she and arborist John Krivinchuk went back to the neighborhood. At North Fifth Street and Grand Avenue, she said they saw a good panorama of suckering and die back. She said they also saw vertical cuts in the trees “and we actually saw the thing.

Prior to this discovery, the Emerald Ash Borer hadn't been identified north of the Twin Cities.

The infestation is a set-back for many communities. Ash trees became a new favorite of cities after they lost their Elm trees in the 1970's and early 1980's. Many communities replaced the Elms they lost in their boulevards with Ash trees. Now it appears that those will be lost as well.

Meanwhile, officials with the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District remind Wisconsin residents about what they can and can't bring to the WLSSD's Yard Waste Compost Site. While Superior and Wisconsin residents can still bring leaves and grass clippings, they are no longer able to bring brush and wood waste for disposal.